it was decent, but not ali or mercer class. they could take punches. tyson's stoppage's weren't against hard heavy punchers. holyfield really doesn't hit that hard for a heavy and he managed to floor Tyson. lennox isn't a tremendous puncher, (#9 or 8?), and knocked mike down with a single shot. it's true this was after much punishment, but it's still odd because Louis hits harder then any of tyson's oppositon. If he was hitting Tyson as often as any of those guys were, he would be busted up badly. tyson could take a punch, but he can't take volume punching, and therefore he has an OK chin and very bad heart. tyson's chin is still better then louis's. anyway the point is that either man could be floored if either of them got hit with the right punch.
I disagree that Lennox Lewis wasn't a tremendous puncher. He was a 6'5 240 pound man, and when he loaded up he was explosive. The Rahman II knockout is one of my favourite knockouts ever. Brutal one-two. But I get your point about him. I just disagree, I think Tyson had a great chin, and could take a great deal of punishment. You'd have to keep laying into him to get him down, and doing that leaves you open to one of Mike's bombs. I fancy Mike's chances over Joe.
Louis got up from knockdowns after getting hit by real hard hitters such as Joe Walcott Tyson.....well....never got up. EVER.
One worry I have for Tyson is on the inside. He threw shots from mid-rangeish, right on the inside Louis' shorter punches could have Tyson out of there, good chin or not. I'd favour Tyson within a few rounds though, but I now have problems with this match-up due to Louis' shorter punches.
Hate to say a word against Louis, but I think there is a very distinct possibility that Tyson might overwhelm him.
I think Louis is greater, but Tyson matches up well with him. I like Tyson early and in the mid rounds, and Louis late. I'd pick Tyson.
People talk about the early huricane that Louis is going to have to weather, but they seem to think that Tyson can just bore forward into Louis's combinations with impunity. When Louis was loading up his combinations thae last place in the world you wanted to be was coming forward, believe me. Louis was as dangerous going backward as Tyson was coming forward. It might well come down to a question of whether Tyson could endure the early huricane.
Well, he caught jabs and one-twos from slower less skilful fighters than Joe Louis. Pinklon Thomas rarely missed when he actually threw, but Thomas had no power. Tyson's head movement is overrated. Tyson might shock Louis with a few shots, even deck him, but Louis would handle the situation and break Tyson down with his superior boxing ability and ample power. :nono
This may sound tenuous, but I think this match-up depends fundamentally on era. Obviously, Tyson was a mid-range operater, and needed some way of getting in on his opponents without getting hit. The peek-a-boo guard was his primary means of achieving that. He could get away with it in the modern era because the gloves are huge, making his guard difficult to penetrate. But back in the day, punches were like water running through your fingers: you can't just hope to block then. (Hence the easier KO's and emphasis on range control as a primary means of defence.) We all know how Louis eats guys for breakfast on the way in. With small gloves, Tyson gets decisively beaten to the punch and probably stopped before he can get off; with modern gloves, he can probably deflect most of Louis' work from range and get up close where his better defence would give him the edge. In other words: "Louis in his era, Tyson in his". It's a fantastic match-up, though, between two comparably overwhelming offensive forces.
Louis probably didn't face the big punchers that Tyson did, but he was never laid out cold like Tyson was against Lewis and Douglas, despite taking not entirely dissimilar amounts of punishment from Schmeling I, Charles, Marciano etc. There isn't a huge chin deficit here.
When comparing fighters from different eras I let the older guy use his gloves/equipment, and the modern guy use his,
Some bits I'm kind of in agreement with - sort of ONE HERE I DON'T AGREE WITH - HOW COULD LOUIS NOT HAVE THE SIZE NOR POWER TO GRAB AND HOLD TYSON??? THAT'S RIDICULOUS REALLY THINK I KNOW WHERE YOU'RE COMING FROM ABOUT TYSON'S CHIN NOT BEING GRANITE - BASICALLY WHAT IT BOILS DOWN TO IS TYSON COULD BE RATTLED - IT WASN'T LIKE NOBODY EVER HURT HIM - BRUNO DID AND TUCKER DID AND BONECRUSHER DID NOT REALLY SURE ABOUT THIS ONE (ATHOUGH PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING ELSE YOU SAID I'M IN ALLIANCE WITH) - IT'S JUST I WATCHED A FEW OF LOUIS' FIGHT THE OTHER NIGHT AND TRIED TO BE OBJECTIIVE AND ONE OF THE THINGS I NOTED WAS LOUIS DIDN'T LOOK AS GOOD TO ME WHEN BACKING UP - HE'D NEED TO BRING THE FIGHT FORWARD HIMSELF I THINK
Both men were exremely dangerous in the opening rounds of a fight.. The difference however, is that one of them had the tendency to get into trouble early, while the other one did not..